Whales 2000 Speakers
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American Cetacean Society Whales 2000 Speakers |
The following is an excerpt from the November 2000 conference program
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DONALD A. CROLLAssistant Professor of Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz The research interests of my laboratory broadly include the ecology and conservation of marine mammals, seabirds and the habitats upon which they depend. We focus in two areas. One includes an examination of how physical and biological factors explain and ultimately may be used to predict the distribution of large, highly mobile marine predators such as marine mammals and seabirds. Here we examine the interaction between the physiological, behavioral and life history characteristics of marine mammals and seabirds, physical and biological oceanographic processes, and the distribution, abundance, and behavior of prey species. The second focuses on the most important threat to seabird populations and island ecosystems worldwide: the introduction of non-native species (e.g., cats, rats, pigs, goats, sheep, foxes, etc.). This research examines the changes that result from the introduction of non-native species to islands and seeks to understand, develop, and improve methods for the restoration of island ecosystems. Current research projects include: 1) the foraging ecology of blue, fin, and humpback whales in the California Current, 2) trophic links in the Monterey Bay upwelling ecosystem, 3) ecological restoration of the islands of Northwest Mexico and California, and 4) introduced foxes and seabirds: the role of top-down processes in controlling marine subsidies to terrestrial ecosystems. ABSTRACT Due to their large body size and high mammalian metabolic rate, blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) have the highest average daily total energy requirement of any organism. Blue whales meet this energy demand by feeding exclusively upon dense but patchy schools of euphausiids. We used concurrent ship- and mooring-based oceanographic, hydroacoustic, and net sampling, opportunistic whale sighting records, systematic visual surveys, and time-depth recorder deployment to: 1) define prey patches and whale foraging behavior within patches, 2) determine spatial and temporal patterns in the distribution and abundance of whale prey patches, and 3) examine the biotic and abiotic factors important in creating whale foraging patches in the seasonal upwelling context the California Current. |
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